Luke 16 is the sixteenth chapter of the

Gospel of Luke The Gospel of Luke is the third of the New Testament's four canonical Gospels. It tells of the origins, Nativity of Jesus, birth, Ministry of Jesus, ministry, Crucifixion of Jesus, death, Resurrection of Jesus, resurrection, and Ascension of ...

in the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

of the

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

. It records the teachings and parables of

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

Christ Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...

, including the account of the " rich man and Lazarus".Halley, Henry H. ''Halley's Bible Handbook'': an Abbreviated Bible Commentary. 23rd edition. Zondervan Publishing House. 1962. There is an "overriding concern with riches" in this chapter, although other topics are also covered. The book containing this chapter is

anonymous Anonymous may refer to: * Anonymity, the state of an individual's identity, or personally identifiable information, being publicly unknown ** Anonymous work, a work of art or literature that has an unnamed or unknown creator or author * Anonym ...

, but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed that

Luke the Evangelist Luke the Evangelist was one of the Four Evangelists—the four traditionally ascribed authors of the canonical gospels. The Early Church Fathers ascribed to him authorship of both the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. Prominent figu ...

composed this

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

as well as the

Acts of the Apostles The Acts of the Apostles (, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; ) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of The gospel, its message to the Roman Empire. Acts and the Gospel of Luke make u ...

.Holman Illustrated Bible Handbook. Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. 2012.

Text

The original text was written in

Koine Greek Koine Greek (, ), also variously known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek, Septuagint Greek or New Testament Greek, was the koiné language, common supra-regional form of Greek language, Greek spoken and ...

. Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are: * Papyrus 75 (AD 175–225) *

Codex Vaticanus The Codex Vaticanus ( The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Vat. gr. 1209), is a manuscript of the Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Old Testament and the majority of the New Testament. It is designated by siglum B or 03 in the Gregory-Aland numb ...

(325–350) *

Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus (; Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), also called the Sinai Bible, is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old Testament, including the deuterocanonica ...

(330–360) * Codex Bezae (~400) * Codex Washingtonianus (~400) *

Codex Alexandrinus The Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII) is a manuscript of the Greek Bible,The Greek Bible in this context refers to the Bible used by Greek-speaking Christians who lived in Egypt and elsewhere during the early ...

(400–440). This chapter is divided into 31 verses.

Parable of the unjust steward

This parable of Jesus appears in Luke, but not in the other

canonical gospels Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the second century AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message was reported. In this sen ...

of the

. Verse 1 affirms that the parable is for Jesus' disciples, and as far as verse 8a contains a story about a steward who is about to be dismissed, but who "curries favor" with his master's debtors by remitting some of their

debt Debt is an obligation that requires one party, the debtor, to pay money Loan, borrowed or otherwise withheld from another party, the creditor. Debt may be owed by a sovereign state or country, local government, company, or an individual. Co ...

s. The

New International Version The New International Version (NIV) is a translation of the Bible into contemporary English. Published by Biblica, the complete NIV was released on October 27, 1978, with a minor revision in 1984 and a major revision in 2011. The NIV relies ...

(NIV) calls this story "the parable of the shrewd manager", reflecting the wording of verse 8a where "the master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly".: NIV According to Eric Franklin, this parable is "noteworthy for its obscurity". Harold Buls argues that, while this parable "has been called the most difficult of Jesus' parables, it is not so difficult if a person carefully studies the words".Buls, H.
The Sermon Notes of Harold Buls on the Gospel Lessons of the Ingrian Lutheran Church of Russia: Text from Luke 16:1-9
accessed on 29 April 2025 The "certain rich man" who was about to dismiss his steward, is not identified.

Friedrich Schleiermacher Friedrich Daniel Ernst Schleiermacher (; ; 21 November 1768 – 12 February 1834) was a German Reformed Church, Reformed theology, theologian, philosopher, and biblical scholar known for his attempt to reconcile the criticisms of the Age o ...

linked him with the Romans, and Christian Grossmann refers to a Roman emperor who dismissed a provincial governor. Heinrich Meyer also refers to a "usual explanation" that the rich man is God, but he is critical of all three of these interpretations.

Verse 8b

:''For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light.'' This part-verse and the succeeding verses may be treated as part of the parable or as separate additions: translators and commentators vary in their assessment of where the parable ends,Franklin, E., ''59. Luke'' in Barton, J. and Muddiman, J. (2001)
The Oxford Bible Commentary
p. 948 for example the New American Bible Revised Edition clearly begins its "application of the parable" at this point.

Verse 9

:''"And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home."'' "Unrighteous mammon" (, ''tou mamōna tēs adikias'') refers to wealth, or "money" in

paraphrase A paraphrase () or rephrase is the rendering of the same text in different words without losing the meaning of the text itself. More often than not, a paraphrased text can convey its meaning better than the original words. In other words, it is a ...

s such as that of J. B. Phillips, although the debts which had been written down in verses 6 and 7 had been expressed as debts payable in measures of oil and wheat.

An encounter with the Pharisees

Verse 14

:''Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they derided Him.'' The parable and the subsequent guidance were both directed to the disciples (see verse 1) but were also heard by the

Pharisees The Pharisees (; ) were a Jews, Jewish social movement and school of thought in the Levant during the time of Second Temple Judaism. Following the Siege of Jerusalem (AD 70), destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD, Pharisaic beliefs became ...

, who were φιλάργυροι (''philarguroi'', either "lovers of money" or "covetous"). Johann Bengel suggests that along with their "covetous" nature, "they fancied themselves to be accomplished in (furnished with) such

prudence Prudence (, contracted from meaning "seeing ahead, sagacity") is the ability to govern and discipline oneself by the use of reason. It is classically considered to be a virtue, and in particular one of the four cardinal virtues (which are, ...

as to be able admirably to combine the service of God and that of mammon", whereas the teaching of Jesus required " singleness of heart", a quality they also despised. Anglican bishop Harvey Goodwin comments that the derision shown by the Pharisees confirms that they had been "touched by our Lord's teaching; they adopted the fool's course of mocking at that which they could not deny to be true, but whose truth they did not like to follow into its consequences".

Verse 16

:''The law and the prophets

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until

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

.'' There is no verb in the original Greek: the word ''were'' is generally added to make sense of the sentence. The ISV says they ''were fulfilled'' with John. The NIV says they were ''proclaimed until'' John. Matthew's text says: :''All the prophets and the law prophesied (ἐπροφήτευσαν, eprophēteusan) until John''.

Account of the Rich Man and Lazarus

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The account of the rich man and Lazarus (also called the Dives and Lazarus or Lazarus and Dives) is a well-known teachings along with the

parables of Jesus The parables of Jesus are found in the Synoptic Gospels and some of the non-canonical gospels. They form approximately one third of his recorded teachings. Christians place great emphasis on these parables, which they generally regard as the word ...

appearing in the

. It tells of the relationship, in life and in death, between an unnamed rich man and a poor beggar named Lazarus. The traditional name, ''Dives'', is not actually a name, but instead a word for "rich man", '' dives'', in the text of the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

Bible, the

Vulgate The Vulgate () is a late-4th-century Bible translations into Latin, Latin translation of the Bible. It is largely the work of Saint Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels used by the Diocese of ...

. The rich man was also given the names ''Neuēs'' (i.e.

Nineveh Nineveh ( ; , ''URUNI.NU.A, Ninua''; , ''Nīnəwē''; , ''Nīnawā''; , ''Nīnwē''), was an ancient Assyrian city of Upper Mesopotamia, located in the modern-day city of Mosul (itself built out of the Assyrian town of Mepsila) in northern ...

) and ''Fineas'' (i.e. Phineas) in the 3rd and 4th centuries. Along with the parables of the Ten Virgins, Prodigal Son, and Good Samaritan, it was one of the most frequently illustrated teachings in

medieval art The medieval art of the Western world covers a vast scope of time and place, with over 1000 years of art in Europe, and at certain periods in Western Asia and Northern Africa. It includes major art movements and periods, national and regional ar ...

, perhaps because of its vivid account of an

afterlife The afterlife or life after death is a purported existence in which the essential part of an individual's Stream of consciousness (psychology), stream of consciousness or Personal identity, identity continues to exist after the death of their ...

. Despite being labeled as a parable by some, there is no introduction in Luke's account to certify that it was just a parable. The name Lazarus, from the

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

: אלעזר, Elʿāzār,

Eleazar Eleazar (; ) or Elazar was a priest in the Hebrew Bible, the second High Priest, succeeding his father Aaron after he died. He was a nephew of Moses. Biblical narrative Eleazar played a number of roles during the course of the Exodus, from ...

—"God is my help", also belongs to the more famous biblical character

Lazarus of Bethany Lazarus of Bethany is a figure of the New Testament whose life is restored by Jesus four days after his death, as told in the Gospel of John. The resurrection is considered one of the miracles of Jesus. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, Lazarus i ...

, known as "Lazarus of the Four Days", who is the subject of a prominent miracle attributed to Jesus in the

Gospel of John The Gospel of John () is the fourth of the New Testament's four canonical Gospels. It contains a highly schematic account of the ministry of Jesus, with seven "Book of Signs, signs" culminating in the raising of Lazarus (foreshadowing the ...

, in which Jesus resurrects him four days after his death.

References

External links

* King James Bible - Wikisource
English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate

''Online Bible'' at GospelHall.org
(ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version,

Bible in Basic English The ''Bible In Basic English'' (also known as the ''BBE'') is a translation of the Bible into Basic English. The BBE was translated by Professor S. H. Hooke using the standard 850 Basic English words. 100 words that were helpful to understand ...

)
Multiple bible versions at ''Bible Gateway''
(NKJV, NIV, NRSV etc.) {{Gospel of Luke Gospel of Luke chapters